Over in Books and Reports you will find a pair of reports released today by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development that discuss the importance of connecting jobs to transit and which jobs, in particular, will be most responsive to locating near transit. And in Half-Mile Circles, Jeff Wood, who participated in the research for the reports, blogs about the need to make employment centers central factors in transit development decisions.

After receiving applications from half the states last month, the Obama Administration announced the winners of the High Speed and Intercity Rail grant program today. John Robert Smith, the President and CEO of Reconnecting America stated, "The vision created by these grants is one that should excite the American people. It calls for a high performance rail system that is reliable and competitive with the automobile and has the ability to reduce Americans' dependence on foreign oil."